Sara

Follower of Jesus | Lover of books |Passionate about #Ethiopia & all things Africa |Humanitarian |Interested in Design Thinking| AfriCAN|

[Matt Van Swol @mattvanswol]

In 1988 Dolly Parton pulled every 7th and 8th grader in Sevier County into a room and told them to pick a buddy.

She made them sign a contract.. if BOTH graduate, she hands you both $500. One fails, nobody gets paid.

The county dropout rate went from 35% to 6%.

She handed out the checks herself.

In 1989 she offered $500 to every kid in the county who wanted to go to the local college.

When Gatlinburg burned in 2016, she sent 900 families $1,000 a month for six months.

You've probably heard that part.

Here's the part you haven't:

The fund raised more than expected, so she showed up in May and handed every one of those families another $5,000 on top.

Then she quietly put $3 million into the recovery group that handles the years after the news trucks leave.

She built her county an entire hospital.

She played a benefit concert in 2007, Dollywood and the Stampede matched it, and LeConte Medical Center opened in 2010 with a birthing unit and a women's center in it.

In 2022 she started covering 100% of tuition, books, and fees for Dollywood employees.

Full-time, part-time, AND seasonal.

In 1991 she paid for a bald eagle sanctuary because the birds couldn't be released back into the wild, no press release.

And when Hurricane Helene came through here in Western North Carolina, she wrote a personal check for $1 million and her companies matched it.

She didn't owe North Carolina anything, but she helped us anyway.

She started the Imagination Library because her daddy couldn't read or write. Before he passed, he told her it was the most important thing she ever did.

Rest in Peace, Dolly 🇺🇸

[ⓉⓃ @tesfanews]

No IMF debt means your country's macroeconomic policies aren't dictated by IMF loan conditions. That gives your government more policy space and greater economic sovereignty.

[Africa Today Media Group @africatodayMG]

Kigali (Rwanda) Named Safest Capital City in Africa.

Global security indices ranked Kigali as Africa’s safest capital for the fifth consecutive year.

Low crime rates and advanced smart policing technologies contribute to the city’s reputation as a secure destination for investment and living.

[Africa Today Media Group @africatodayMG]

Rwanda banned second-hand clothes in 2018.

President Paul Kagame famously asked: "Why would any African wear used socks or vest of someone from Belgium, France or America? Why can't you make your own?"

Since 2018, Rwanda has halted the importation of second-hand clothing to protect and grow its local textile industry, promote "Made in Rwanda" products, and strengthen economic independence.

This is why you won't see the massive piles of imported clothing waste in Rwanda that are common in many other African countries.

[TETA @tetaaxt]

Middle East tensions are driving global fuel prices up—and the impact is being felt everywhere.

From East Africa to beyond, rising costs show how deeply connected the world is.

FUEL PRICES IN EAST AFRICA CURRENTLY.

KENYA🇰🇪, RWANDA🇷🇼, TANZANIA🇹🇿 ,UGANDA🇺🇬, ETHOPIA🇪🇹

[AddisCoder @AddisCoder]

Congrats to Nathan (AddisCoder’25, @HaileManas) and Haile (AddisCoder’23, Asossa High School in Benishangul-Gumuz) on joining MIT’s freshman class this upcoming Fall, both on full rides.

[AddisCoder @AddisCoder]

Congrats to Merwan of Kotebe University Menelik I Science Shared campus (AddisCoder’25), who will head to Princeton this Fall on a full ride.

[Sara @OutlierSwan]

#MyXAnniversary

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Addressing thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo said God “does not listen” to leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood,” warning Jesus cannot be used to justify conflict.

As the Iran war enters its second month, he renewed calls for a ceasefire.

[James Hall @hallaboutafrica]

Sweet stuff. Ethiopia is Africa's largest honey-producing country in 2026, and the world's #10 top honey producer: more than 84,000 tonnes annually in recent years. Angola and Tanzania are big honey makers but not anywhere near Ethiopia.

[Alan MacLeod @AlanRMacLeod]

BREAKING: The United Nations has voted 123-3 in favor to condemn the enslavement of millions of Africans and the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

The three countries voting against it?

🇺🇸 USA
🇮🇱Israel
🇦🇷 Argentina

Nearly all of Europe abstained.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

The UN General Assembly has adopted a Ghana-led resolution recognising transatlantic slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity,” passing despite opposition from the US, Israel, Argentina, and European countries.

[AWLNetwork @AWLNetwork]

Congratulations to H.E. @SahleWorkZewde, former President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia & AWLN Elder, on receiving the 2026 Forbes Woman Africa Lifetime Achievement Award!

A distinguished leader whose legacy of diplomacy, peacebuilding, and women’s empowerment continues to inspire across Africa and beyond.

A truly well-deserved honor.

#ForbesWomanAfrica #WomenInLeadership #AWLN

[Birrmetrics @birrmetrics]

World Bank debarred three PwC entities for 21 months over collusive and fraudulent practices linked to Ethiopia–Kenya power project, including procurement misconduct, contract influence, and misrepresentation of experts.

Read More: https://t.co/tiEdDnli8b

[Brandon Luu, MD @BrandonLuuMD]

Students who took notes by hand scored ~28% higher on conceptual questions than laptop note-takers.

Writing forces your brain to process and compress ideas instead of copying them.

[Sara @OutlierSwan]

All the things that didn’t work for me today (and most days): paying for fuel via @telebirr paying for parking @ USParking and verifying my CBE and Awash Bank accounts for @IDethiopia online. They all says it’s cause I have an iPhone 🫣
Let’s do better in #2026 #DigitalEthiopia

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

With Christmas approaching, celebrations in Haifa were met with chaos after Israeli police stormed the Wadi al-Nisnas neighbourhood, arresting and beating Christians in the area.

[Love Music @khnh80044]

This is how Coca-Cola celebrated Christmas in Japan.♥️

[Sara @OutlierSwan]

@SaraYirga Depends if you work on Saturdays or not 😅